Hard-working, determined, and inspirational are just some of the words to describe each teacher at Jesuit. Recently, Jesuit held a faculty banquet where teacher that went above and beyond were awarder for their hard work. Each award recognizes a teacher for a different attribute the do well as a teacher. All teachers were excited to win their award and thanked many people who contribute to their success.
Winners of each award:
| Plaque 1 | Cecil Green Award | Vanessa Jones |
| Plaque 2 | Michael Grimshaw Family Award | Casey Profitt |
| Plaque 3 | Elaine Henrion Award | Seth Waits |
| Plaque 4 | Jeremiah E. Lenihan Family Award | Claudio Eduardo Pinto |
| Plaque 5 | Joseph C. Mulhern, S.J. Award | Joelle Abi-Habib |
| Plaque 6 | Hal F. Tehan Award | Donovan Putnam |
| Plaque 7 | Robert Tynan, S.J. Award | Laura O’Neal |
| Plaque 8 | Peter Faber, S.J. Teacher of the Year Award | Dan Brndjar |
| Plaque 9 | Francis Xavier, S.J. Coach of the Year Award | Giuliano Sanchez |
Description of the awards:
The Michael Grimshaw Family Award: Modeling Ignatian Pedagogy
● Creates conditions and provides opportunities for continual interplay of experience, reflection, and action
● Helps students gain skills to become life-long learners, including fostering creative and imaginative thinking
● Guides inquiry into subject matter for awareness and deeper understanding of significant issues and complex values that compels one to action
● Demonstrates an awareness, and fosters the well-being, of community members
The Cecil Green Award: Discerning Ways of Teaching and Learning
● Collaborates with educators in and beyond the school community to enrich teaching and learning
● Engages in ongoing development as an educator in light of new research, best practices, and social and cultural changes
● Solicits feedback from students and colleagues on the teaching-learning process
● Strives to be a critically-reflective educator
● Evaluates curricular and instructional programs in light of the overall mission of the school
The Robert Tynan, S.J. Award: Building Community (Faculty)
● Partners with parents/guardians in achieving the school’s educational mission
● Recognizes and works to overcome obstacles that impede the building of an Ignatian learning community
● Inspires students and colleagues to collaborate with others in seeking the greater good for all
The Jeremiah E. Lenihan Family Award: Caring for the Individual
● Helps others be conscious of their well-rounded growth as men and women for others
● Values students and colleagues as individuals and treats them with empathy
● Demonstrates willingness and ability to listen, developing mutual trust with students and colleagues
● Seeks to understand adolescent psychology/behavior and the world of the adolescent
● Holds students, others, and oneself accountable to reasonable academic and behavioral expectations
The Elaine Henrion Award: Animating the Ignatian Vision
● Shares and helps to shape the school’s vision and mission
● Responds to Christ’s call to be a woman or man with and for others
● Is knowledgeable about the foundational documents of Jesuit education
● Values her/his work as a vocation and works to promote a faith that does justice
● Engages in ongoing learning and development in the principles of Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy
The Joseph C. Mulhern, S.J. Award
● Committed to the mission of Jesuit Dallas
● Exemplifies a strong working knowledge and support of the various functions benefiting students and the larger Jesuit community
● Produces an exemplary standard of work and makes those around her/him strive for improvements and higher quality of work
● Self-motivated and takes on challenges and assignments that are not typical of her/his position
The Hal F. Tehan Award
● Presented to a faculty member who is nominated by peers as most representative of an Ignatian educator
Interviews:
Mr. Profit said, “I feel tremendous gratitude and humility. I know that in some sense, winning this award is a way to represent all the amazing faculty that make Jesuit a wonderful place. I think there are so many people at this school equally deserving of this award. For example, I know I am blessed to be on the sophomore World History team with Mr. Yohannes, Mr. Segal, and Mr. Pointer. I know Coach Aquino has been wonderful to work with on the barbecue club. I have colleagues such as Lisa Druebert, Jude Harrington, Fritz Asche, Rob McGhee, Todd Gruninger, Joe Nava, and Matt Trost who are not only amazing educators but also a constant source of friendship and support. All the coaches, all the teachers, all the students, all the supportive parents and alumni and administrators– they all make this a place where magical things can happen. It is the amazing Jesuit community that made me want my son to be a student here next year as a 9th grader. Thank you, everyone, for all that you do every day!”
Joelle Abi-Habib said, “I was so honored to receive the Rev. Joseph Mulhern, S.J. Award this year. Jesuit has been such a special place for me the past 4.5 years, and this just proved to me how wonderful our community is. It was such a nice surprise to be recognized by the people I respect so much!”
Coach Sanchez said, “Winning the Francis Xavier, SJ award was a humbling experience. This award is student-nominated, which tells me the freshmen and student-athletes of Jesuit really appreciate the work that Athletic Performance puts in to make training a rewarding and worthwhile experience. More than anything, winning the award makes me feel appreciated by the student body – coaching is time-consuming and can be frustrating at times, but hearing a “thank you” makes it all worthwhile. The night of the banquet, it felt like I was thanked 1000+ times.”
Ms. Jones said, “It was a really nice surprise to be recognized. The pandemic has been really hard on teachers and it just felt good to know that the school stood behind the hard work that I’ve been doing. Especially with the Junior Classical League and my new assignment in the Learning Resource Center. So it was really meaningful to me to be recognized.”
Mr. Waits said, “I was surprised a lot and it meant a lot. The specific award that I won talks about the Ignatian vision and had a lot of Ignatian pieces to the descriptor of the award. So as somebody that was a student here and then went to a Jesuit university, it means a lot to be considered by my peers as somebody that understands and implements those types of principles.”
Mr. Brndjar said, “I was very grateful and humbled to be honored with the award. There’s a lot of deserving teachers and almost every teacher here kind of pours themselves into this and tries to be the best teacher they can be and in model the vision of the school. To be recognized, I don’t know that I feel like I’m any different than anybody else but I am humbled and honored and very grateful.”
Ms. O’Neal said, “Well, I was shocked. They start talking about the individual, but they don’t say the name so I’m sitting there going all of a sudden they mentioned something about candy canes and I do that but still at that point I had no idea I was going to get the award. Mr. Fitzsimmons, who’s my boss, turned around and said they are talking about you. I was super excited and I’m thrilled. I just was shocked. I am just happy to have received the award because it makes me feel good that I love being here, I love my job, and that I’m appreciated.”
